


The O.C. Drabbles

by Pouncer



Category: The O.C.
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Drabble Collection, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-14
Updated: 2009-12-14
Packaged: 2017-10-04 10:39:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pouncer/pseuds/Pouncer





	The O.C. Drabbles

#### For Maud, _Ryan_

The leather jacket slipped over Ryan's shoulders like armor. Time for real fun, the kind he couldn't find in Newport.

Highway to side road to back streets and _there_, that was what he wanted.

Ryan followed a chattering group inside the house, picked up a bottle of Corona from the cooler, and prowled through the crowd.

The girls came to him, dark hair and dark eyes and low-cut blouses. He was new and unknown and exciting.

They were warm and curvy and giving. Nothing like Marissa or Seth's hard edges.

Touch and taste and rapture – this was a welcoming harbor.

#### For Walter, _Ryan/Seth, doing something slightly illegal_

"Dude. What happens in TJ stays in TJ," Seth was trying to sound confident. _Trying_.

"Oh yeah," Ryan replied. "Just like last time with the medevac."

Seth's hands flailed. "This is totally different! Do you see Marissa or Summer anywhere?" Wide eyes and dramatic looks around to prove his point – no girls here.

Ryan was still dubious. "Okay, so no overdoses or alcohol poisoning." He cocked his head at the parasailing sign. "Don't you think this has trouble written all over it?"

"No, no," Seth said. "See, we're _together_. Nothing bad can happen!"

Ryan sighed and hoped Seth was right.  


#### For Elzed, _Ryan - getting snarky. Blue, escape, slick_

Carnival lights swept by, smeared into blue trails by the motion of the ride. Ryan loved the Tilt-a-Whirl, reveled in the swoop in his belly and the air rushing past his ears.

Seth screamed at Ryan's side.

This was so much better than school.

The car finally came to a halt, rocking gently around its pivot. Ryan pushed the safety bar back, stood up, and smiled so broad his cheeks hurt.

Seth groaned, and Ryan knocked him in the shoulder. "Come on, Adventure Boy. Cotton candy next."

Seth's expression was horrified. Ryan kept smiling, and bounced on his heels. _Wuss._  


#### For Maud, Marissa.

Post-death

The grapevine brought word to Trey, then he had to research online and confirm it.

Marissa was the first person in Newport to be nice to him. She adopted him like some pet charity project, then backed off once he got his bearings.

He regretted that he'd scared her, that night on the beach.

Then she'd gone to Ryan and fissured his relationship with Trey further, and well. Trey stopped caring what she thought.

The search came back: Marissa was dead. Car accident.

"The driver, Ryan Atwood, was unhurt."

Jesus.

Ryan should stay out of cars. Bad luck all around.

#### For Maudgonne, Sandy's thoughts on Ryan. (Set after the final scene of the last episode)

The kid was hunched in the corner, body language screaming defensiveness.

Sandy met Ryan's eyes, and the déjà vu was so strong that Sandy half-expected Seth to meander in wearing a ridiculous t-shirt. Instead, Sophie tumbled around his knees, practicing her gymnastics.

And Ryan wasn't on the brink of disaster.

"His home life's awful," Ryan muttered, face tilted down. "And I couldn't just _leave_ him there."

"Of course you couldn't," Sandy said.

"But how –"

"We'll figure it out, Ryan." Taylor walked in and gave the kid a soda. "All of us, together."

Like a family , blood or chosen, should.  


#### For venetia_sassy: Five times Ryan and Summer invited speculation. 470 words

  
1.  
When they laughed just a little too long at Seth for tripping over his feet. Marissa rolled her eyes at them, and Seth muttered about growing too tall too fast and his sense of balance was messed up forever.

"We don't all have the same problem you do with height, Cohen," Summer said.

Ryan chimed in, "Yeah. Way to make us self-conscious."

2.  
At a Harbor School dance, when Seth was off procuring punch and Marissa was darting around fixing decorating mistakes. Ryan and Summer stood in the corner, and Summer sighed something about not being one of the cool kids anymore.

"You could go out there," Ryan said. "Any guy would feel lucky to dance with you."

"You're just saying that, Atwood," Summer said.

"No, really." Ryan stared at Summer's profile, the curve of her chin and the way her smile plumped her cheeks.

"Who wants punch?" Seth returned, and Ryan coughed into his hand.

3.  
When Ryan started talking about Roman engineering and the amazing things they did with concrete, Summer giggled at him. "I don't know why Cohen is called the geek," she said. "You're even worse."

Ryan sketched a picture of an arch and said, "They conquered the known world. They're awesome."

Summer looked at Ryan's hands, the way he held a pencil, the flex of his wrist, and bit her lip.

4.  
The sun beat down on the beach, and Summer stretched out a leg.

Ryan returned from playing in the waves and flicked water on her shin.

"Hey, that's cold!" Summer objected.

The blanked beckoned, and Ryan threw himself down, groaning at the warmth of the sand underneath.

"Not as cold as the ocean." Ryan pressed up onto his forearms, turned and looked at Summer. Her bikini skimmed her breasts and hips, and her hair tendriled onto her neck. "Do you need more sunscreen?"

The glance she gave him was coy. "On my back." And she swiveled around.

If Summer's eyes closed while Ryan massaged lotion in, nobody was around to notice.

If Ryan didn't want to stop, he was the only one who knew.

5.  
Moonlight made the atrium glow even more than the fairy lights nestled in the trees.

"So, are we doing this, Atwood?" Summer asked.

Ryan gazed into her eyes, warm and brown and knowing. He didn't answer, just pulled her closer and bent his head to press his lips against hers. They kissed until the moon slid out of view, wrapped up in each other. Ryan learned the contours of her mouth, the curve of her waist, the softness of her skin. Summer learned the strength of his arms, the press of his thigh between hers, the taste of his passion.

"We should go inside," Ryan said at last.

"No we shouldn't," Summer said. "We should stay right here."

#### Oliver Is Trouble

  
Ryan knows Oliver is trouble. Nobody believes him. Marissa thinks Oliver is a troubled guy who just needs a friend. Seth likes Oliver's house in Palm Springs. Summer, well, Ryan's never been able to figure out how she thinks. But Ryan knows. Something about Oliver makes the fine hairs at the back of his neck stand straight up. Oliver has a glint in his eye that drives Ryan crazy. He smirks when he talks. And he always says something to make Ryan feel bad about himself.

Ryan's seen that glint before, in his mother's worst boyfriends. He's seen his mother hand over rent money, and food, and herself, because of her man's demand. He's known the sickening feeling of a fist slamming into his ribcage because the boyfriend of the week decided that Ryan was being too assertive.

Ryan knows Oliver is just like them. He has money, and a fancy penthouse, but he's identical to the worst of the boyfriends. Ryan had raged under their reign, but he couldn't do anything about them. His mother would never listen to him. Now Marissa won't hear him, believes that Ryan's jealous.

Ryan wishes he were only jealous. But he knows better.

#### Postcard Quarto

**San Salvador Street**

Kirsten,

I hope your summer is going well. San Salvador is another world; the children break my heart. I'm glad I decided to help refuges, but I miss you so much. I knew I'd learn a lot, helping here, but I didn't know the most important thing I'd learn is how much you mean to me. Berkeley is a hothouse, not the best place to begin a life together. Being away from you has made me realize that I never want to be parted from you again. I can't wait to see you this fall. I love you. – Sandy

***

**Angkor Wat**

Kirsten,

Angkor Wat is incredible. Picture on front doesn't do it justice. Managed to dodge militia to get into closed temple. Tell Seth it's nothing like Tomb Raider – carvings are incredible, &amp; you feel ancient as stone. Jungle travel is full of humidity and bugs. Ate bugs in Bangkok (can see Seth's expression of horror) – crunchy. After tour ends, going on to Saigon and then maybe Hong Kong. Places where communism still holds sway – I know Dad will be revolted. Mail is supposed to be really slow – I'll try to write again, and bet you get it before this. – Hailey

***

**Eiffel Tower**

Summer,

Paris is amazing, way better than Oliver (gag!) ever said. Maybe this Caleb thing won't be so bad. I've been ignoring them anyway – all Mom wants to do is shop on the Champs Elysee, and Caleb goes to museums. I've been wandering on the Left Bank, drinking coffee and reading Anais Nin. These two English guys kept hitting on me, and I almost invoked Ryan to get them to back off. But then, he'd just be overprotective and beat them up, right? Have you heard from him? I know – I'm supposed to be forgetting him. I'll keep trying. – Marissa

***

**The Coliseum**

Trey,

I lit a candle for Mom at St. Peter's. She'd be proud of me, I think. Churches litter the city – lost track of how many I've visited. The Coliseum doesn't look impressive at first, but then I walked to the top levels and this vast arena spread before me. The floor is gone, so I could see the tunnels. I've done enough fighting that making a living at it doesn't appeal. Italian woman are gorgeous. They keep flirting with me at coffee shops (and let me tell you, Starbucks is awful compared to the coffee here). Ciao - Ryan

#### For Overnighter, _Seth sees Ryan at college for the first time -- at home, at peace, with his own friends_

  
Seth hit Phoenix Grille for an afternoon bagel before heading to the library to cram for finals. It was full of students chattering over laptops, notes, and textbooks, and he wandered, lost, among them.

UC-Irvine wasn't RISD or Brown, but it wasn't bad. And it admitted Seth after his disastrous stoner year. Marissa's death had killed dreams as well, and staying close to home seemed inevitable. Unless forgetfulness was the goal, like Summer, who fled to Miami for school.

Ryan took engineering courses and Seth studied art. They hardly saw each other, except at parentally mandated Sunday dinner, even though they both lived at home.

"Hey!" Seth froze, fearing water polo players, but a familiar blond head caught his eye in a corner. Ryan waved Seth over and introduced him to a posse of engineering students seated around a table.

Seth gnawed on his bagel and wished for his dad's schmear while they babbled in some special engineer dialect. For once, Seth felt like the cool kid.

"-- civil engineers build targets!" Jorge concluded with a guffaw. The group mostly groaned, but Ryan smiled, just a little.

"Hey Atwood," Michael said. "You got the skinny on O'Prey's exam? He likes you best."

"No clue, man," Ryan responded. "Study session tomorrow?" He tapped at an imposingly large textbook like it held the secrets of the universe.

His friends agreed and left in a pack, on the hunt for protractors.

Ryan and Seth sat there a few more minutes, silent.

"Gotta go," Ryan finally said.

"Yeah, I know. I'll see you at home, though." Seth had never been more grateful for that connection.

Ryan spread a hand in farewell and took off, backpack over one shoulder.

Seth sat for a little while longer, fixing the moment in his mind.

Ryan had smiled.

#### Triumphs for Nothing, Ryan Atwood/Julie Cooper

(Spoilers through 4.01 The Avengers)

Julie finds him outside the bar, while he's unpacking crates of liquor from a truck. Ryan feels eyes on him, a prickling of hair on the back of his neck.

She stands in shadow, but he recognizes her immediately. He wonders, inside the cocoon keeping him from total self-destruction, if she's there to extract her own pound of flesh.

Marissa's been dead a month today.

Ryan still smells burning gasoline and metal and upholstery. Still smells blood. He'd hoped the stench of the bar would drown it out, but that was futile.

High heels clatter on asphalt as Julie prowls closer. Her hair is pulled back, severe, but her lips are painted a lush red and her dress skims her curves. Ryan would think her unaffected if her eyes weren't ravaged. Grief lives in every pore of her skin.

Ryan sets down the box of Seagram's Seven.

He's survived by burying his feelings, and he's not going to let Julie resurrect them.

Julie steps too close, brushes his bicep with fingers that tremble. "You carried her," Julie says, direct, but he can hear a question in her voice.

Ryan glances down. Nods. Tries to block the memories.

"Was she," and there's another question there but Ryan won't answer. Won't recount how Marissa looked or the wave of failure that crushed him that night and still holds him down.

He tries to move away but Julie clings. "Ryan," she says and reaches out to turn his chin to face her.

He won't look at her eyes, stares over her shoulder at the mildewed siding of the bar. The kiss takes him by surprise. Her mouth lands on the corner of his, soft and delicate, and her tears fall onto his cheek.

"Thank you," she tells him, smiles tremulously, and walks away.  
_Title from Shakespeare's_ Cymbaline, _Act iv. Scene 2._

#### For Maud,  Five Things Ryan Atwood Wishes He Didn't Remember

  
1\. His mother's face as she watches the judge read out the sentence that sent Ryan's dad away to jail. Fifteen years they'd be on their own, and young as he is Ryan still knows that this is a catastrophe. After a hasty dinner at MacDonald's his mom promises Ryan and Trey that things will be different now. Ryan wants to believe her. He does.

2\. Waking up and going out into the living room to find his mother and her latest loser boyfriend naked under the afghan. There are cigarette butts everywhere, and more empty bottles of beer than Ryan can count. He doesn't bother to make breakfast, just grabs his backpack and heads for school. He'll be able to buy lunch, anyway.

3\. A gun held in Trey's hand, pointed at Ryan. It'd been the two of them against the world when Ryan was younger, but now Trey's drinking and drugs and attempts to rape Marissa had come to this. Ryan breathes in, and starts the fight.

4\. Seth high on pot. Ryan feigns nonchalance – he's toked a few joints in his time – but Seth's tension and stress levels lately worry Ryan. Seth is throwing away his future for a few minutes of private escape in his bedroom. Ryan's already been down this road with Theresa, and even if the baby never made it, he remembers the misery of trying to atone for his mistakes. Seth should know better.

5\. The way Marissa's body goes limp, and the light fades out of her eyes. Ryan pulls her closer, smelling the blood from her temple, the smoke and gasoline from the Land Cruiser, and wishes that he'd never come to Newport.  


_  
_


End file.
